


The Little Things

by BelleRose



Category: Beauty and the Beast (1991), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Beauty and the Beast - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, High School, Idiots in Love, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-15 00:05:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14147550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BelleRose/pseuds/BelleRose
Summary: When Gaston asks for your help, you are not happy about it. Because he is an idiot and you are invisible to him. But sooner or later you realize that maybe he isn’t that bad.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A word about the reader: I tried to keep it as general as possible. At some point I needed details, so if something is not fitting for you, feel free to change it in your mind.
> 
> Feedback is always welcome! :-)
> 
> English isn’t my first language and I have no beta at the moment, so please excuse mistakes.

„You have to be kidding me.“  
It was the first thing you said after Mrs. Agathe went silent. Incredulous you looked at her, because she had to be kidding. There was no way she was serious.  
“Well, I think…”, your class mate next to you started but he went silent when you shot him a look.  
“Gaston, could you leave us alone for a second?”, Agathe asked and looked at the tall guy next to you.  
You decided to ignore him completely.  
“Sure…”, he said slowly, looking at you and – finally – going out of the classroom.  
“Before you say something…”, Agathe started before you had the chance to raise your voice. “Let me explain it. I don’t say, that you should do his work. But I ask you to help him.”  
“Why me?! There are so many students in this class! Why, of all the people, me? He doesn’t even like me! And his friends too! You know what they do!”, you said with clear anger in your voice.  
“I know! But you are the best one. And he needs help. It’s necessary for him and part of the…well…let’s call it punishment after the last incident.”  
You rolled your eyes.  
“I’m not someone’s prison guard.”  
“That’s true. But you want to go to Harvard.”  
You wanted to say something, but Agathe raised an eyebrow and you closed your mouth.  
Damnit. She was right.  
You crossed your arms and looked at her.  
“Look, (Y/N), you are an excellent student. You only have A’s oder A+’s. Your curriculum is phenomenal. You are in a lot of clubs, you are part of three sport teams, you do a lot of extra work and help whenever we need help. Your application is more than impressive.”  
“There is a but?”  
“But…”, Agathe continued with a sigh. “You also need recommendation letters from teachers.”  
“I’m working on it! I already have four! Only one more! I’m sure I will find another teacher…”  
“I have the fifth one for you.”  
Questioningly you looked at her.  
“I spoke with the coach. Gaston’s coach. He is the best soccer player in the team. The talent scouts are fighting to get him. He will get a scholarship.”  
“Good for him.”, you said with a tone of sarcasm.  
You couldn’t care less about Gaston or his life.  
“But he needs good grades. So here is the deal. You help him with it and the trainer will write you a recommendation letter, mentioning your engagement to help the star of our high school to get his scholarship and what a helpful person you are in general.”  
You rolled your eyes. It was unbelievable! Since your first day, Gaston was a pain in your ass. He was arrogant, selfish, manipulative and a show-off. Every other girl was madly in love with him and you knew from Belle, your best friend, that he had fucked nearly every girl at the school. Nearly every girl, because Belle and you were probably the only girls who couldn’t care less about him and had no wish to get fucked by Gaston…or one of his even dumber minions, Stanley, Dick and Tom. It’s not like, Gaston hadn’t tried it, at least with Belle. For nearly a year he had flirted with her and tried to make her to his new girlfriend. Belle ended his behaviour with a cup of (cold) coffee in his face. Thankfully, he never noticed you. It was almost like, you were air or invisible. And you were happy with this. The constantly bullying from the minions or the three dumb girls who followed Gaston everywhere, was enough to deal with. But now, you had to help him.  
You sighed deeply and nodded slowly. Agathe smiled.  
“That’s great! I’m sure you can do this!”, she said enthusiastic and you didn’t miss how fake it sounded.  
“Yeah…”, you said, while you took your bag and walked outside.  
  
  
  
Gaston was standing in front an open looker…his looker, admiring himself in his mirror, making sure, his hair looked perfect. Unfortunately, it always looked perfect.  
He noticed you in his mirror and quickly closed the door, but winked at himself, before he did that.  
You felt the need to laugh…or puke. He jogged to you.  
“So…?”, he started and looked at you with his perfect smile.  
Gosh, he really was awful and you already started to regret this.  
“There is a chance, I’m going to help you.”  
“Oh, that’s wonderful! You are such a darling, (Y/N)! No one is a nicer person…”  
“Save it.”, you stopped him and started walking.  
Gaston followed you.  
“Look, I don’t have much time, so I can’t help you with every subject. I will help you with this one, only this one! Find someone else for the other subjects.”  
“That’s not necessary.”  
“Why not? You have D’s in all the other subjects?!”  
“I need A’s to get the scholarships. Only two or three B’s. Depends on the university.”  
You stopped so fast, Gaston nearly walked into you.  
“Very funny, Gaston.”, you said with a laugh and he raised an eyebrow.  
“What?”  
“You really wanna tell me, that you, from all the people in this school, that you have A’s?!? Good joke.”  
“It’s the truth.”  
“Yeah, sure.”  
“Really! I swear it.”  
You crossed your arms again.  
“Ask me anything. I prove it. I’m smart.”  
“Smart and Gaston are two things that don’t work together in one sentence.”  
“Ouch. That was not nice.”  
“Honest. The word you are looking for is honest.”  
“Ask me anything.”  
You looked at him, but Gaston seemed pretty confident and just smiled at you.  
“What does DNA stands for?”  
“Deoxyribonucleic acid.“  
„What is the mission statement of the French revolution?“  
“Liberté, égalité, fraternité.”  
“Name all the elements of the periodic table.”  
“Alphabetically or in order?”  
“What?”  
“Nothing. Well, let’s see. Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon,…”  
„Ora et labora.“  
„Pray and work. It’s latin.“  
„What is the capital of Monaco?“  
“Monaco itself. It’s a city state.”  
You went silent for a second, because you couldn’t believe it. Because it was just not possible. Gaston, that idiotic, dumb jerk, knew all the answers. But there was no chance this was actually possible. In every subject, he was nearly all the time silent, not paying that much attention and being smart was surely something that wasn’t cool when you where the star of the high school.  
“That’s it?!”, he asked with a complacent grin.  
“No.”, you answered, while you opened your bag and searched for a piece of paper. You quickly found it and gave it Gaston. “Solve this.”  
He took it and looked at it. Now it was your turn to smile. This was a highly complicated mathematical equation. Usually, this was teached at universities. So, there was no way Gaston would solve this. Maybe he had general knowledge, but this…  
“8.”, he said and gave it back to you.  
Your smiled disappeared and your eyes went wide.  
“But…what…you can’t…”  
You nearly snatched the paper from his hand starred at it. He was absolutely right…and you had needed almost 10 minutes to solve it.  
“What?! Am I wrong?”, he said and when you looked up, he grinned again.  
Gosh, how you hated that grin.  
“How the fuck is it possible that you are smart?!”, you nearly shouted.  
“Did it ever came to your mind, that you are not the only smart person in this school, (Y/N)?”  
“Of course, it came to my mind! But you are Gaston! You are supposed to be one of these dumb soccer idiots, who can’t say what our capital city is!”  
“Well, our capital city is…”  
“Don’t you dare!”, you interrupted him.  
“Alright. First of all, ouch! Again. I have feelings too, you know.”  
You only snorted and put the paper back in your bag.  
“And second…”, he continued unimpressed. “There is no correlation between being smart and playing soccer. And just because I don’t talk that much during class, doesn’t mean I’m not smart. I prefer to be the silent smart type and not such an insufferable Miss-Know-It-All.”  
“Excuse me?!”  
“Sometimes you really are.”  
You glared at him, but said nothing for a while, than you started moving again. He still followed you.  
“Well, if you are so smart, why you need my help?!”  
“Because Literature is the only subject I’m not good at. And I need a better grade at the end of the year, to get my scholarship.”  
“You do realize, there is absolutely no reason, why I should help you.”, you said, still a bit angry about his previous comment about you.  
“You need the recommendation letter from my trainer.”  
“…besides that…”, you answered with gritted teeth. “Your minions bully me all the time and don’t get me started with your fan club, Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest.”  
“I know…”, he said and stepped in your way.  
You crossed your arms and looked at him. To be fair, he really was attractive. The perfect body, his muscles visible through the tight shirts he always wore. His perfect chin and the high cheekbones, the perfect nose and his full lips who always smiled a bit and that eyes, these perfect green eyes… .  
You blinked and wondered, if you were mad or something. You had no time for a crush…and you surely had no crush on Gaston. He was an awful person.  
“Look, I know, we hadn’t the best start.”  
“You ignore me all the time. I’m actually impressed, you know my name.”  
“Right…”, he said slowly and rubbed the back of his head. “Look, (Y/N),…”, he started again. “I really, really need your help. I need that scholarship and you are my only hope to get better in Literature. So…please, I guess?!”  
You raised an eyebrow at this question. He tried to show his charmingly smile, but you only rolled your eyes.  
“Don’t try it. I don’t care about your smile. Fine, I help you. I’m always home at 4, so…I can come over to you and we can start…”  
“No!”  
“What?!”  
“I mean…no…that’s not…possible.”  
“And why?”  
“Well, you can’t come to my house. Can’t we met somewhere else?”  
“And why I can’t come to your house? Are you hiding bodies in there or what?!”  
“Well, you are…you and I am…Gaston…”  
“Are you trying to tell me, that me, the school loser, can’t come to your house, because you are so popular and the star and no one is supposed to see us together?!”  
“You are so smart, (Y/N)!”  
For a brief second you thought about punching him.  
“I am home at 4. My place. I will send you the address. Bring your stuff. We start today.”, you said with a cold undertone.  
“Well, today is bad, because I already promised Claudette to go to the cinema with her. Or was it Pauline? Or the other one? I always forget who is who…”, he mumbled at the end and you couldn’t believe you actually had that conversation.  
“Tomorrow. No excuses. 4 and don’t be late.”, you said and started to walk again.  
“You are the best!”, he screamed after you.  
You only showed him the finger, because he could go and fuck himself.  
  
  
  
“I still can’t believe it!”, Belle said and closed her locker door.  
She leaned against it and you just had told her all the details of your encounter with Gaston yesterday. You already had told her in a three hour phone call, but she wanted to her it all over again.  
“I know. I can’t believe, I actually said yes.”, you added with a grimly mood.  
“Well, if this means you can go to Harvard, isn’t it worth it?”  
“If he is always like that, I’m going to murder him and I’m pretty sure, Harvard is not going to take someone with a jail record.”  
Belle laughed.  
“Maybe it’s for the best you two keep it a secret. The Bimbettes would kill you.”  
“Mh.”  
Before you could say more, Adam appeared, still in his sport clothing.  
“Hey, (Y/N)!”, he greeted you and smiled brightly at you. “Hey, my beauty.”, he greeted Belle and kissed her.  
“Hey.”, she answered with a smile and kissed him again. “How was training?”  
“Good. The captain is happy with me. I am happy with me. I can’t wait for lunch. I desperately need something to eat or I turn into a beast.”  
Belle and you laughed and Belle gave him a lunch bag.  
“I made one for you this morning.”  
“You know me so well.”, Adam said with a smile and they kissed again. “Isn’t she the best girlfriend, ever?!”, he asked you and you smiled.  
“Well, I can only talk about friendship, but she is the best friend, because she is my best friend, so I’m pretty sure, she is also the best girlfriend.”  
“Wise words. So, Belle told me everything about your Gaston situation. You can handle it?”  
“I hope so.”  
“Well, a long time ago we were friends and he was a decent human being.”  
“Isn’t he full of surprises.”, you said sarcastically.  
“Ah, my favourite students! You are ready for the French test?!”, you suddenly heard the voice of Mr. Lumiere, who walked down the corridor.  
He stopped and smiled at you.  
“Oui.”, Adam said and showed a playful unsure smirk.  
Mr. Lumiere started to laugh.  
“That’s good! That’s good! You already have a F!”, he said with his heavy French accent.  
“I hope, the test is not too difficult and someone will get a head ache.”, a female voice added and Ms. Plumette appeared.  
It was an open secret that these two were a thing. They had met in school, because Plumette was the school nurse and Lumiere was the French teacher.  
“Of course not.”, Lumiere answered and smiled as bright as fire. “But maybe I need medical support after I graded them all.”, he said with a wink and Plumette turned read.  
Before she could say something, there was loud coughing.  
“You two are talking in front of students! Would you stop making such comments!”  
Mr. Cogsworth, the history teacher appeared behind these two.  
“Don’t you have to work?!”, he asked Plumette, who rushed away. “And you have a class, if I’m not mistaken.”  
“You are never mistaken, my dearest Cogsworth.”, Lumiere answered with a mocking undertone and Belle, Adam and you had to giggle.  
Cogsworth glared at you and walked away. Lumiere pretended to be scared, grinned, winked at all of you and followed his colleague. After they were gone, you three started to laugh.  
“Now, I feel better.”, you said after a while and Belle smiled at you sympathetic.  
“Would you mind, if I go with Adam and we see each other in class?”, she asked and Adam took her hand.  
“Of course not.”, you said and Belle kissed you on the cheeked, before she walked away with Adam.  
You looked after them and couldn’t stop a sigh. You really were happy for them. In the beginning, Adam seemed to be a jerk, but it turned out, he actually was a nice guy. And when Belle and Adam started a relationship, you were happy for your best friend. But sometimes it was hard, to see them that happy, because you realized, you were alone. But then you reminded yourself, that you wanted to go to Harvard and you absolutely had no time for such a silly thing like a boyfriend. There would be enough time at Harvard and most of all a lot of really smart and nice guys.  
  
  
  
To your surprise, you heard the doorbell at 4. Gaston had completely ignored you the whole day and you were pretty sure, he had already forgotten what you had told him. But when you opened the door, he was standing in front of you, car in your driveway – of course a big and expensive Audi – bag at his shoulder, dumb and perfect grin in his face.  
“Hello, beauty.”  
The urge to slam the door in front of his dumb face was nearly too big.  
“I have a name.”, you simply said.  
“I know. But beauty is much more fitting.”  
The urge to punch him was also pretty big.  
“Okay, Gaston, here are the rules. You do what I say. You stop with the sweet talk. You work or I will kick you out before you can say your name. Is that clear?”  
“What is the problem with my compliments?”  
“I don’t care about them and they are not compliments. It’s sweet talk.”  
You stepped aside to let him. He looked around and you closed the door.  
“Are we going to learn in your room? At your bed?!”, he asked and his grin was way too dirty.  
You raised an eyebrow and the grin disappeared.  
“Alright. You are serious. Got it. I promise, I’m going to be a good boy.”  
Maybe, after all, a jail record wouldn’t be so bad, you thought.  
“Honestly. I’m thankful you help me, so, I’m going to behave.”  
For the first time you talked with each other, he actually looked and sounded honest. You two looked at each other again and you noticed, something was different in the way his eyes looked like. They were much…softer. Open. More honest.  
“We are going to learn in the living room or the kitchen. What you prefer.”, you said and walked towards the rooms, Gaston followed you.  
You went through the kitchen into your living room. It was nice, big, but at the same time cozy. You loved it.  
With a lot of curiosity, Gaston looked around.  
“Wow, that room is pretty nice. Your mother has a nice taste.”  
“Actually, it’s my taste. I bought all the stuff and decorated it. When we moved into this house, everyone got a room to create and I choose this one.”  
“That’s pretty impressive, what you did here.”, he said, putting his bag next to the couch and walking to the big and numerous book shelves.  
One wall was covered with them and amazed Gaston looked at the books.  
“Now I know, why you are so good in Literature.”  
“I grew up with books. They were always a part of my life.”  
Gaston only nodded, still looking at the books.  
“So…”, you started and Gaston turned around. “Here or the kitchen?”  
“Well, the kitchen was pretty nice too, but, I think, I want to stay here.”  
“Alright. Let’s start, shall we?!”  
  
  
  
The whole thing turned out better than you thought. Actually, much better. And Gaston really was full of surprises.  
Sometimes, you wondered, why he needed help with Literature, because sometimes, his answers, ideas or works were so deep and thoughtful, you were impressed. But most of the times, it was difficult for him. He understood everything, but needed someone to talk, so he could think everything through. In the end, he always found the right answer and they were really good. You actually enjoyed it, to exchange ideas and views and talk with him and at some point, you also talked about other things, besides your current topic. A bit of personal stuff, mostly only you, or school related things, but most of the time you talked about literature and culture and art and history and the world, religion and everything together. Every topic you could find to the book you worked at. And you were pretty sure Gaston forget everything the second he walked out.  
He would always stay for 2 hours, then he would go home. But at some point he started to stay a bit longer and you two also did the homework together. So, sooner or later, your parents were quite surprised to find someone else in their living room, when they came home. At some point, your mother invited Gaston to stay for dinner, and he rejected the invitation, but your mother insisted and a new ritual was born. Gaston would stay for dinner and went home after that.  
Belle was shocked, in the beginning, when you told her about Gaston, but in the end also positive surprised. And you would never say it out loud, but you actually enjoyed his company. It turned out, he also had another, much nicer, really smart and actually pleasant side. He could he nice, funny, witty and thoughtful.  
Of course, nothing changed much in school. He still ignored you, because he was still the super star and you were the school loser. But you stopped to be a Miss-Know-It-All in class and Gaston managed to speak a bit more. The teachers noticed the changes too, but said nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

It was the week before Christmas and you were on your way home and already late. With a sigh you closed your locker, grabbing your bag.

“Hey, loser!”, was the only thing you heard, when you turned around, before something cold and wet hit your face.

You gasped in surprise and could hear the laughs. When you opened your eyes, you saw Dick and Tom and the three girls behind them, all laughing at you.

“Merry Christmas, idiot!”, Dick said and they all went away.

You looked down at yourself. A slushie had hit you and you were covered in it. You fought back the tears and went to the toilette.

 

An hour too late, you finally arrived at home. To your surprise, Gaston was still waiting for you. He texted you about five times, you hadn’t answered. It was pretty cold outside, and everything was covered in snow, but nevertheless Gaston was sitting at your steps, reading a book. He looked up, when he heard your car and started to smile the moment he saw you.

“(Y/N)! I’m glad you are here. I thought, you wouldn’t come. Is everything alright? You are pretty late and tried to text you, but didn’t get an response and…is that slushie in your hair?!”, he asked confused and tried to touch your hair, but you stepped aside and he grabbed the air.

“Why are you sitting in the cold?”, you asked, clearly avoiding the topic.

“Well, your mom asked me to come inside, but I wanted to wait here and I like the snow and the cold never bothered me anyway.”

You nodded and opened the door, hearing a lot of noises the moment you stepped inside.

“I’m home!”

Your mother appeared with a smile.

“Hello sweetheart, how was school? And what is that?”, she asked, looking at the slushie smudge on you.

“Uuumm…the cafeteria floor was slippery and I…slipped. My slushie landed on me.”

“Oh no! Are you alright?!”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”, you lied and you felt Gastons stare at you.

Thankfully, he said nothing.

“I really should talk with the director. How is it, the floor is always slippery?!”, your mother wondered. “Does this happen to you too, Gaston?”

You didn’t dare to look at him.

“Yes…”, he answered slowly, looking at your mom and back to you. “A lot.”

“What about the noises?”, you asked and changing the topic.

“Oh, we have guests. Can you and Gaston learn somewhere else today? In your room, maybe?!”

“Um, sure. Why not.”, you said and went with Gaston upstairs.

 

When you two entered your room, Gaston was surprised. He wasn’t sure, what he had expected, but nevertheless, he felt surprised. The room had the same classic, elegant and at the same time cozy taste like the living room. It was filled with lots of books, merchandise and decoration stuff.

“You have a nice room.”, he said, looking around.

“Thanks.”, you said, putting down your bag and walking to your closet.

You pulled out a shirt and went to the bathroom door.

“If you take a look, I will murder you.”, you said as a warning and with a grin and entered your bathroom.

Gaston quickly turned around, paying a lot of attention to your book shelf. He wasn’t sure why, because usually, he wouldn’t miss the chance to get a look at boobs, but with you, it was different.

“You didn’t slip at the floor.”, you heard him from the other room.

“I did.”, you said.

“No you didn’t. I was there too. We ate lunch at the same time. You didn’t slip. Was it Tom or Dick? Or one of the girls?”

“You forgot Stanley and that small guy, who always follows you.”

“LeFou. But these two wouldn’t bully you. They are far too nice to do something like this.”

“If you say so.”

“Yes. So? Who was it?”

You thought about changing the topic, because there was no reason why Gaston asked. You gut bullied a lot and until now, Gaston didn’t seem to be interested in the behaviour of his friends.

“It was Dick. Or Tom. I don’t know. Everything happened too fast. Maybe one of the girls. They were there too.”

You were done changing and stepped out of the bathroom, finding Gaston still looking at your book shelf, one of your Harry Potter books in his hand. For a brief second you looked at his ass and of course it was perfectly shaped too, because everything about Gaston seemed to be perfect. You blinked and quickly looked up, when he turned around.

“I am sorry, they did this.”

“Why?”

Surprised he looked at you.

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you sorry? They are doing this since…well…forever. You never seemed to care.”

“I do.”

You leaned against the wall, looking at Gaston and waiting. He sighed deeply.

“Look, just because I don’t say anything, doesn’t mean, I don’t care. I do. And I am sorry. Really. I wish, I could make them stop, but…”

“You have to protect your reputation.”, you added for him.

Gaston seemed to be embarrassed, but nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why do you care so much about your reputation? Why does it matter so much to you, what other people think about you? And do you really think, they are your friends? They wouldn’t do anything when you need help.”

Gaston said nothing and looked at the floor. You had the feeling, that he was fighting with himself if he should answer your question or not. When he looked up, you saw, he wouldn’t answer the question and there was more to this story. There was something, he wasn’t ready to talk about.

“Can I ask you another question?”, you offered.

“Of course.”

“Why do you want that scholarship? I mean, you don’t need the money. I know your car. And your grades are amazing. So, why do you need it? And why soccer?”

“Well, soccer is the only thing I am good at.”, he answered, ignoring the first questions.

“That’s not true.”

He looked surprised.

“Gaston, you are actually smart. Very smart. You could do so many things. You work hard, you could do it. Have you never thought about, what you could do?”

“I don’t know. I suppose…no?! There was always just soccer.”, he answered with a shrug.

“Close your eyes.”

“What?”

“Don’t ask. Just…close your eyes.”

Unsure, he looked at you, but closed his eyes nevertheless.

“Now, think about your life in…let’s say 20 years. Imagine every aspect of your life. And let’s pretend, that literally everything is possible. What do you see?”

There was silence for a while and you watched his face. Suddenly a smile appeared on it.

“I’m having the perfect life.”

“Describe it to me.”, you said, taking a pen and piece of paper from your desk.

“I’m out of this little town, in a big city. New York, maybe. Or LA. Or Berlin or Paris or…”

“Not maybe. Imagine it. See it.”

“It’s Paris.”, he answered and you wrote everything down he said. “I’m successful in my job.”

“You’re playing soccer?”

“No. I did it in my free time at college, but…I’m a vet.”

“A vet?!”

“Yes.”, Gaston said and smiled. “I have a really big and very fancy office in Paris. LeFou is there too. Not in the office, but in Paris. He is…a musical star or something. And we are still best friends.”

You smiled.

“Anything else?”

“I’m living in a very big house. It’s big and awesome, but also very cozy. I see a lot of green around it.”

“Sounds like a house for a family.”

His smile got bigger and much softer.

“Yeah. I have…the most beautiful wife on earth. She is successful in her job too, kicking asses every day. She is a bad ass and probably way too good for me. And she is so beautiful. Not only on the outside, but also on the inside. And we have kids. A lot of kids. Boys and girls.”

“How many?”, you asked with a smile, feeling strangely happy to see Gaston so happy.

“4. No wait, 5. I almost forgot Gaston junior.”

You had to laugh, because of course, Gaston was naming a child after himself.

He went silent again and opened his eyes after some seconds, looking at the floor.

“And I wake up every morning, feeling like the luckiest man on earth and my life is just…perfect.”

There was silence again.

“You can laugh at me, if you want.”, Gaston said after a while. “I know, it’s silly.”

You said nothing and went to him, folding the paper and handing it to him.

“It’s not silly. And I’m sure, you can do this. And just in case you forget your dream, here it is. Black on white.”

Slowly Gaston took the paper and looked at you.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

 

When spring arrived, you knew, you would get your Harvard letter. So waiting was torture. Besides that, everything went along as usual. Gaston would visit you most days after school, you would talk about Literature and do homework together, dine with your family and go home. You also started to text with each other from time to time, talking about this and that. You also accompanied Belle and Adam to the soccer matches, rooting for the team and Gaston.

Sometimes, you had the feeling, LeFou knew about the situation, because you caught him looking at you or smiling and he started to talk with you in class, whenever it was possible and wouldn’t be too obvious something was happing in secret. Even Stanley showed you a smile then and now, when Tom and Dick weren’t paying attention to him.

You also started to watch these two and you noticed a really weird group dynamic. LeFou was basically only with Gaston, some kind of shadow. He got mostly ignored by Tom and Dick and the Bimbettes pretended he was air. Stanley seemed to be the only one, who paid attention to him…a lot of attention and after some time of observation you had a feeling, that Stanley’s girlfriend was a beard and he had a big crush on LeFou…and LeFou on Stanley. Stanley was also a bit of an outsider in the group. Tom and Dick seemed to be his friends, but he was different. Tom and Dick were loud, dumb and loved to be idiots. Stanley was shy, quiet and seemed to be pretty nice.

As it turned out, Gaston really was full of surprises, because he actually was a pretty big nerd. He knew a lot of stuff about TV series and films. You two could talk about the differences of Star Wars and Star Trek all day long or he could name all the Game of Thrones character deaths in order, without thinking about it. He also knew his Hogwarts house and could quote “The Hobbit” like you could quote Shakespeare.

 

To his surprise, one day in spring, your mother opened the door.

“Oh, Gaston. You are here…”, she said, obviously surprised.

“Shouldn’t I be here?!”

“Well, I just thought, she wouldn’t do it today…”, your mother mumbled and Gaston looked confused at her. “She got the Harvard letter.”

“Oh?! That’s great! Congratulations! I’m sure you are very proud of her. I mean, she worked her ass off. You’re probably celebrating and she forget to tell me and now I disturb the party…”

“She isn’t in Harvard.”

Gaston looked at her with open mouth.

“Wait…what?”

“Yes. It was negative reply.”

“Oh.”, was the only thing that came to his mind. “Can I…go to her?”

Your mother nodded and let Gaston in.

“I’m sure, she is happy about a bit company. She was pretty devastated. She is in her room.”

 

Gaston went upstairs and found you on your windowsill, looking outside. When he softly knocked at your door, your head turned around and looked at him. Gaston didn’t miss the red, eyes, the tear-stained face and the heart-breaking look at your face. He felt awful, seeing you like this.

“Gaston?! What are you doing here?”

“Well, I thought we would meet.”

“Oh damn.”, you said, hiding your face in your hands. “I forgot to text you.”

“Don’t worry. It’s not a problem. Your mother told me what happened. How are you feeling?”, he ask and closed your door behind him, walking to you and sitting down next to you.

You sniffed.

“Well, awful. Devastated. I can’t believe it. I worked so hard for the last years and it was for…nothing.”

“Don’t say that. I’m sure, it wasn’t for nothing.”

“Really? I’m not going to study at Harvard, so it really was for nothing.”

“I’m sure every other college would be more than happy to get you.”

You said nothing. You knew, deep down, that he was right, but at the moment you were to hurt to admit it.

“So, what’s the plan B?”

“I don’t have one.”

“What? You always have a plan B! And C. And D and E and F and…I’m pretty sure all the letters from the alphabet.”

You had to laugh and Gaston smiled at you.

“Better.”

“What is better?”

“You, smiling.”

You felt your face getting red.

“You also have a nice laugh.”

You looked up and realized how close Gaston was. He looked at you and you could perfectly see his green eyes, looking soft at you.

It was Gaston, who looked away and you noticed his slightly flushed cheeks.

“Well…um…I…I wondered…I mean…I know, you usually don’t go to such things, because you have a lot to do and learn a lot and stuff, but…um…it’s my birthday tomorrow and…I’m having a party at one of the clubs, so…I wondered, if you would perhaps…maybe…if you have time…would you come?!”

“You are renting a club to have a party?!”

“My parents do. And Tom and Dick organize everything. Something about celebrating the 18th birthday big way.”

Your first impulse was to say “no”. Because he was right. You learned all the time and felt no desire to attend these parties. But now…

“You know what?! Okay. I’m going to be there.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, I never went to such a party. All I ever did was sitting here and learning. And for what? Harvard rejected me. So I’m going to attend at least one high school party and start to have fun and a life. Can I bring Belle and Adam?”

“Sure. That’s…great!”, Gaston answered and seemed to be very happy.

 

The next evening, you stood in front of the club and didn’t felt so courageous. You even thought about just going home and watching a movie or something. But Belle didn’t want to hear any of it and basically pulled you inside.

And you felt a lot out of place. The club itself was nice. A big dance floor, a stage at one end and a huge bar at the right side. There were a lot of seats. The light wasn’t too bright, but bright enough to see everything and the music was pleasant. You saw the DJ next to the stage and at the stage some girls in underwear wear, dancing to the beat.

You looked at the other guests and you felt even more out of place. Of course you looked nice, in your opinion, you had put on your best outfit and the one that screamed “party hard” the most. But your style was simple. Something, you could wear everyday. No sexy stuff, no weird colours or crazy patterns. And with a look at the other guests, especially the girly, you realized, you looked more like someone who was attending the birthday party of their grandparents. Even the high heels you wore, where borrowed from Belle.

Before you could turn around and run away, a woman approached you.

“Welcome to the party. Can you tell me your names?”

She smiled friendly and Belle answered her question. She looked at her clipboard and nodded.

“Over there is the wardrobe and please give me your phones. There is a no-phone-rule at his party. Because whatever happens in this club, stays in this club.”

This didn’t calm your nerves, but you handed her your phone nevertheless. She put a sticker with your name on it and took the phones from your friends.

“Thanks. You can get it, when you go. Have fun at the Saints and Sinners party!”

“Saint and Sinners?!”, you asked with a raised eyebrow when you walked with Belle inside.

“Come on. This is going to be fun.”, she said enthusiastically.

“(Y/N!)”, you turned around, when you heard your name and you saw Gaston, making his way through the crowd to you. “I’m glad you are here.”, he finally said, when he was standing in front of you.

“You are talking with me?”

“Yes.”

“You do realize, I’m still the loser?!”

“Yes. And I don’t care and talk with you.”

You two smiled at each other until Belle coughed.

“Hello, Belle. Adam.”, Gaston greeted them, still looking at you.

“Hello, Gaston. Thanks for the invitation.”, Belle said and Gaston finally looked at her.

Adam nodded to him.

“Gaston!”, someone screamed in a shrill voice and you saw Gaston sighing. “Where is the birthday boy?!”

The Bimbettes appeared, obviously already tipsy and in something, that looked more like underwear but was probably supposed to be a dress. They stopped, when they saw you.

“Ew, who invited you?!”

“I did.”

They looked really confused at Gaston.

“Why?”

“Why not.”

“But Gaston…”, one of them started. “She is…ew.”

The girl looked at Belle.

“And this one is so…ew too.”

“You have such a way with words, Paulette.”, you remarked.

“I’m not Paulette!”, she hissed and looked angered at you.

“We need the birthday boy for the cake.”, one of the girls said and she and her sister grabbed Gaston and pulled him away.

He managed to smile at you, before he disappeared.

The third girl, not-Paulette, stepped in front of you.

“Why don’t you go and exist somewhere else.”

“We are invited.”, Belle said and not-Paulette looked at her.

“I don’t care. Just go and…be smart somewhere else or whatever.”, she said with clear disgust.

“You are the only person in this world, who could use intelligence as an insult.”, you said and not-Paulette shot you a dirty look.

“Look, I don’t know why Gaston decided to pay attention to you, but let me be very clear. He is mine and he wouldn’t even touch you or think about it, if you would be the last woman on earth. So why don’t you go back into your hole and stay there, loser.”

With that, she turned around and walked away.

“That’s going to be a great party…”, Adam said with a sarcastic undertone.

“Darling, would you get us something to drink?”, Belle asked and he nodded.

When he went away, Belle turned back to you.

“Don’t listen to these dolls. I mean, look at them. There is basically no difference between them and the strippers on stage.”

You laughed, because Belle was right.

“Don’t worry. I couldn’t care less about these Barbie dolls.”

“Good. But another thing…is there something you want to tell me?”, Belle asked and grinned.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Gaston talks with you…he looked at you. He almost didn’t notice me and Adam.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Gaston seems to like you. And when I say this, I mean **like you**.”, she said with a wink and you felt yourself blushing.

“Don’t be crazy. There is no way in this world or in any other world that someone like Gaston would like me… or **like me**.”

“If you say so…”, Belle said, but looked at you and you looked away. “But he looked pretty handsome…and hot.”

You had to admit, that this was true. The black trousers fitted perfectly and the red shirt accentuated his muscles. You also hadn’t missed, that Gaston had left some buttons open so you had a glimpse at his muscular and a bit hairy chest. For some reason, that thought made your skin tickle and you felt your cheeks flush more. Belle noticed this too, but said nothing.

 

The party was pretty great and you had a lot of fun. You danced with Adam and Belle most of the time, not seeing much of Gaston, because he was constantly with the Bimbettes or his friends. You also had a lot to drink and at some point you decided, it would be wiser to sit down. Belle was worried, but you told her, you were fine and she should enjoy the night and dance a lot with Adam.

You walked to one of the seats next to the stage and sit down. With a sigh, you leaned back and ordered another cocktail. Yes, this was probably a bad idea, because you already were drunk. Not tipsy or something similar, but drunk. On the other side, you were so drunk, you no longer cared and this night was all about having fun and living for the first time in…well, forever, so why not another drink. Adam would drive you home, so no need to worry about that.

While you sipped at the cocktail, you watched the dancers and strippers at the stage, trying to dance and be sexy and being painfully over the top at the same time. Even their movements at the pole looked ridiculous.

“Obviously, you are not that smart.”

One of the Bimbettes appeared, not pleased to see you.

“Hello, Dumb.”, you greeted her, taking another sip.

“What did you call her?!”

“Ah, and Dumber. Where is Dumbest?”

The bitch look appeared on the faces of the two Bimbettes.

“You are such a loser, (Y/N)!”, one of them said.

You decided to call her Bimbette 1.

“Yes, I am.”, you said with a laugh.

“What is so funny?!”, Bimbette 2 hissed.

“Well, see, there is nothing wrong with being a loser.”

“There is a lot of wrong with that. No one likes you. You are so…smart.”

“Wow, what an insult. I feel like crying.”, you answered ironically and Bimbette 1 glared at you.

“You are so embarrassing. I mean, look at you. You look like a nun or something. No wonder, no one wants to fuck you.”

“Is everything alright?!”

Out of the nowhere, Gaston appeared, looking concerned.

“I’m fine!”, you said and grinning.

“We just tried to take the garbage out.”, Bimbette 1 said and smiled brightly at Gaston.

“I’m the garbage.”, you added and smiled at the Bimbettes.

Gaston looked from the Bimbettes to you, unsure, what to do.

“By the way, I hope you don’t plan to pay these dancers. They are awful.”, you said and looked back to the stage.

“Really?”, Gaston asked confused.

“Yeah. I mean…they try so hard, it’s embarrassing to watch. Whoever hired same, should take his money back.”

“Like you can tell.”, Bimbette 1 hissed.

“Yeah. You wouldn’t even know how to do this.”, Bimbette 2 added.

“Because you are such a boring loser.”

“That’s enough, ladies!”, Gaston stopped them. “Could you…get me something to drink?”

They rushed away like there life depended on it. You looked after them and back at the stage. Gaston sat down next to you.

“So, you think they are horrible?”

“Bimbettes or the dancers?”

Gaston smirked.

“The dancers.”

“Oh. Yeah. I mean…look at that girl in the red underwear. These moves? Totally over the top!”

“That’s a pretty…bold statement.”

“It’s not. It’s the truth. Everyone could do this better. I could do this better.”

“Sure.”

You noticed the undertone and looked at Gaston. A smile was on his lips and he watched the dancers.

“You don’t believe me.”

“Oh, I do.”

“No, you don’t!”

Gaston looked at you, eyebrows raised.

“Well, don’t take it personally, but…you are not boring or a loser, but you are not the most exciting person.”

“Ha!”, you answered and felt insulted. “I could totally do this. I can dance, you know?! I have dance lessons, every week. I not only could do this, I would nail this!”

“Yeah, sure…”, Gaston answered, clearly not believing you.

“Here is your drink!”

The Bimbettes appeared with two drinks, handing them to Gaston.

“Hey, Dumb and Dumber…”, they looked at you. “…you think, I’m boring right?!”

“Yeah. It’s obvious.”, Bimbette 1 answered.

“You are the definition of not being interesting or sexy.”, Bimbette 2 added.

You heard a new song starting, so you stood up. You had no idea, if the talk was to blame or the alcohol, but you felt pretty courageous right now and you had an idea. A stupid one, probably, but you were too drunk to stop you from doing it.

“Well, pay attention and take some notes. I show you, what sexy is.”, you simply said, looking at Gaston who seemed to be really confused and then you walked the stage up.

You walked to the middle of the stage, the dancers a bit confused, but saying nothing. You stopped there, your back to the audience.

You closed your eyes, listening to the music, feeling the beat and you started to move slowly, getting more and more into the music. The people in the crowd started to look at you and you started to move more. When the chorus started, you looked over your shoulder. Gaston and the Bimbettes looked at you, the Bimbettes with crossed arms and angry, Gaston fascinated, with his mouth a bit open.

A smile appeared on your lips and you started to move your hips, your hands caressing your body, a hand pulling the hair clip out of your hair. It felt down over your shoulders and you threw the clip in Gaston’s direction. He caught it, still watching you.

Playfully, you grabbed the skirt of your dress, lifting it a bit. You only heard the music and you only saw Gaston, who looked at you, like you were the only person in the room. It made you braver and your hands wandered to your zipper of your dress, pulling it down slowly. You looked back to Gaston and bite your lip playfully, than the dress slipped down slowly, landing at the floor. You kicked it away and continued to dance in your underdress.

Gaston watched this in pure amazement. He never thought, you would do something like this. He didn’t miss the tiniest motion of your body and noticed how beautiful you looked, so free, so happy and like you had the time of your life.

The underdress disappeared too and you danced, showing the hottest movements he had ever seen. He actually couldn’t remember he had ever seen something or someone hotter.

You grabbed the pole and danced at it, sexy and mocking the movements from the unprofessional dancers at the same time. Gaston felt himself laughing and smiling at you. You still looked only at him, smiling and teasingly.

 

“What is going on?”, Belle asked, when she came back from the toilettes. Everyone stopped dancing and looked to the stage.

Adam looked too, but seemed pretty shocked.

“Belle…”, he only said and pointed to the stage.

Belle pushed some people out of her sight and couldn’t believe what she saw.

“Oh my god…”

She stared at you for some seconds, before she grabbed Adam and pulled him with her.

“We have to get her off there!”

 

When the music ended, there was a lot of cheering and clapping, but you didn’t really heard it. You only smiled at Gaston, who clapped and had a big grin on his face. The next song started to play, so you left the stage and walked back to your seat.

The Bimbettes looked at you like they would kill you with their stares.

“That was so…predictable!”, Bimbette 1 hissed.

“Yeah?”, you asked and laughed. “What about this?!”

Before anyone could react, you grabbed Gastons face and kissed him. You planned to only give him a quick kiss, but the moment your lips touched his, something happened. You felt even more drunk and you kissed him a bit longer. His lips were surprisingly soft. It felt good, to kiss Gaston.

Gaston was so shocked, he didn’t knew what do to. Because no one had ever kissed him like that. And no one had ever felt so good.

You slowly pulled away, looking at Gaston and he was looking at you, at your lips and back into your eyes.

“(Y/N)!”

Belle appeared next to you, your clothes in her hands.

“We should go.”, Adam said, looking from Gaston to you and back to Gaston.

Gaston still looked at you. You took your hands of Gaston and cleared your throat.

“Yeah.”, you said and looked at the Bimbettes. “You still think, I’m boring?!”, you said, before Belle grabbed your arm and pulled you away.

“Such a slut.”, one of the Bimbettes said.

“Poor Gaston. Our darling had to kiss the loser.”, the other one added and both started to gossip about you.

Gaston didn’t hear it. Because he still felt your lips on his.


End file.
